I wouldn’t mind re-doing 2013 and it’s not just because of the typo

22 Sunday Dec 2013

Tags

2013, bird watching, birding, birds, Canada, Ecuador, nature, Ottawa, Panama, photography, Toronto, Wildlife, Year in review, Year wrap-up

Curse the typo.

In the last couple of weeks I have at least three friends who posted on Facebook that after they printed their holiday cards they noticed a typo. It’s a shake-your-fist-at-the-sky moment for anyone who has done this, and I venture to guess that we’ve all done this at least once in our lives.

As I write this post there’s a present under the tree for Steve, which is a calendar I made for him using iPhoto on my Mac. I’m sure he knows it’s there because he requests this each year.

The printed calendar arrived from Apple last week and I was beaming as I opened the crisp white packaging (because it’s Apple, ya know) to check out my creativity, my work of art, my museum piece.

And then I saw it written right on the front in 60 pt. font: 2013.

%&#$@!

Thankfully, I did produce the calendar with all the proper 2014 dates and holidays. It’s just that I wrote 2013 on the front. Oh, for Pete’s sake.

And then this thought popped into my head: I’ll just tell Steve I loved 2013 so much I want to repeat it.

So yes, let’s repeat 2013 because it really was a great year!

So good that I have here the highlights in a little photo essay.

When in DC for business I swung by the National Geographic headquarters to visit someone I met on Twitter and also saw the Birds of Paradise exhibit. Oh, I got all this stuff, too. Oh, and called Steve and made him a little bit jealous.

And what a coincidence that the day I was visiting the National Geographic HQ their latest issue of National Geographic Traveler hit the streets and I was quoted in it.

In February Steve and I escaped our winter homes and headed south to Patagonia State Park in Arizona to do some birding. Yes, it is just this beautiful.

We are smiling because we’re at Whitewater Draw, AZ and just saw a gazillion Sand Hill Cranes. Oh, and there’s sun on our faces and we’re not wearing winter coats. Yeah, that.

In March we headed really south to Ecuador where we climbed towers and canopy walkways in the Amazon…

…got me some custom boots made in Quito….

…held a beautiful hummingbird in my hand in the Andes…

…and kissed across hemispheres (Steve never crossed over to the south. Okay, he did. But barely.)

In May I went on my first birding field trip without Steve. This was the Salt Lake Bird Festival and these Yellow-headed blackbirds were at Bear River National Wildlife Refuge. Yeah, I was pretty proud of myself that day.

This is the Canadian Parliament building in Ottawa where Steve and I visited late May as I toured the area where he spent a lot of his childhood. I have to say I’m rather fond of Ottawa. In the summer, of course.

Hey guess what, I want to be a better writer! So I went to TBEX (Travel Bloggers Exchange) in Toronto and I learned from these great writers. I have more to learn, but this was a big milestone for me. No more throwing up adverbs all over my posts. Promise.

During the summer I invited my mom to move in with me while Steve is in Canada. It’s been loads of fun. We go to Las Vegas, get makeovers at Nordstrom and probably shop a little too much on QVC.

In the cold months Steve comes south to Utah to visit me, but during the summers I go North and this is why. This is Jasper National Park in Alberta and it’s what heaven is going to be. If not, I’m going to change my ways.

This is what buffalo look like when they’re trying to look pretty. It’s why Steve and I visit Antelope Island State Park in Utah during October. It’s not so birdy at this time of year but the yellow salt bush makes up for that.

Why, of COURSE we went back to Panama in November This is me standing on the Continental Divide at La Fortuna. Steve and our guide are looking at a hawk and what do I do? Well, I take a selfie because I have no idea what kind of hawk it is.

But when birds in Panama are this gorgeous (like this Rufous Motmot), you don’t take selfies. You pay attention.

So, let’s do 2013 over again, shall we? Really, I wouldn’t mind.

How to learn about your husband

22 Sunday Sep 2013

Posted by Ms. Boice in Trips

≈ 1 Comment

Tags

Ashbury College, Canada, Gatineau Park, Kingston, Ontario, Ottawa, Parliament, RMC, Royal Military College, Toronto, travel

Flipping back the pages in the Book of Steve is fascinating.

We had this epic long distance courtship for two years and while we spent that time trying to really get to know each other (mostly finding out that he hates crowds, is not a picky eater, doesn’t stress out over things he can’t control and, of course, is a avid birder), I really didn’t know that much about where he grew up. Sure, I met his family a couple of times while we dated, but that didn’t reveal too much to me. You see, I grew up a West Coast gal and Steve grew up on the East Coast. Not only that, he’s Canadian and I’m from the U.S.

See? Way different. So, when I learned I had a conference in Toronto Steve suggested we visit places in Ontario so he could show me around, which was a great idea because who was this guy I’d been married to for five years?

Let’s start with church

Now, I always love visiting the Anglican Church he attended when he was a child. (It makes my mother-in-law very happy too, when we visit.) Steve gave me his own tour of the Forest Hill neighborhood church and showed me the places where he would hide and eventually get into trouble. What I learned about my husband: He was a normal mischievous boy.

Grace Church-on-the-Hill Forest Hill neighborhood in Toronto. Founded 1874. Instagram

Now let’s get political

For anyone getting an immersion into their husband’s Canadian life, head to the nation’s capital, which is what we did. We toured the Parliament buildings and even listened in on a session of Parliament, which aside from the occasional French, seemed awfully like a session of congress in the U.S. in that the left was arguing in favor of taxes on businesses and the right was vehemently opposed. What I learned about my husband was this: He likes to listen to the French interpretation on the headphones.

Parliament. Ottawa, Ontario Canada Instagram

Time to eat

This part isn’t new. Both Steve and I love to eat. Ottawa is packed full of lots of fantastic restaurants and our first night there we stopped by an Ethiopian restaurant, which was highly recommended by our bed and breakfast hosts. To be honest, I’ve always found the idea of Ethiopian restaurants odd because all during college all I heard about Ethiopia was that the people were starving. This can’t bode well for a restaurant idea, I thought.

But an Ethiopian restaurant fit perfectly with the theme of this trip: Steve is going to teach me something new. Even if it means eating with your hands. (I had to check around in the restaurant to make sure that everyone else was eating with their hands because, yes, it wouldn’t surprise me if Steve just made that whole thing up about how to eat Ethiopian food.)

And no, we didn’t starve here. The food was pretty fantastic and there was plenty of it. What I learned about Steve: He can’t complain anymore if there isn’t a clean utensil in the house.

Steve demonstrates with great effectiveness on how to eat Ethiopian food. Instagram

My husband got sent to Boarding School

When I first met Steve he told me about how he went to boarding school when he was a kid. “Were you bad?” I asked.

“No, why do you ask that?” He really was puzzled.

“Because in the movies when the kids are bad they are always threatened by some adult that they’ll be sent to boarding school.” I explained. “Have you never seen The Sound of Music?”

Turns out Steve loved going to boarding school. Essentially they’re prep schools for über smart kids. What I learned about Steve: He’s über smart. (Okay, I already knew that.)

Ashbury College Ottawa

This is a really old boarding school. And as you can see, hockey has been around for awhile.

There’s a family cottage, natch.

Not only is there a family cottage but it’s in Gatineau Park and not in Ontario but (gasp) Quebec. I think. I couldn’t tell when we actually were in Quebec or in Ontario. I mean, there were French signs everywhere, but I never was clear on where the actual cottage was, except it looked like this:

View from the cottage at Gatineau Park.

The lake right outside the cottage.

So does it really matter which province? I didn’t think so either. What I learned about my husband here: He comes from a family of cottage owners so I need to stay on the good side of everyone.

Why I will always get the Royal Treatment

There’s a reason why Steve makes the bed with hospital corners, why he likes a list of things to do (he actually loves the Honey-do list, guys), and why he likes to watch war movies. It’s all because he went to the Royal Military College. That’s why he wore this uniform to our wedding:

Steve sports his RMC uniform at our wedding.

Doesn’t he look dapper? (It’s all so Downton Abby, doncha think?) He nearly upstaged me. Nearly.

Touring the campus of the Royal Military College in Kingston, Ontario was a real treat. We met up with his old college buddy who took us around some of the buildings. But most of all I remember the story he told about how the Canadian flag came about, which is not completely recorded on the plaque below and apparently involved a great deal of liquor. But don’t quote me on that. I’m not Canadian and I probably shouldn’t know that little bit of info.

Part of the story about the Canadian flag.

Royal Military College, Kingston Ontario Instagram

Steve finds two great uncles listed on the Memorial Arch at RMC. Instagram

What I learned about Steve here: This stop explained a lot about my husband. His long family legacy in the military and his love of country. Plus, he looks so damn good in that uniform for our wedding.

There’s no way to rewind a movie and playback all the events in Steve’s life, but walking in the shadows of where he once walked enables me to understand him a little bit more. It has given me perspective and understanding that no amount of conversation would have opened up for me.

And we’re going to be eating with our hands from now on. In uniform. In a cottage on a lake somewhere. Speaking French.

Letter to my readers: Some people at TBEX taught me about writing. The good kind.

16 Sunday Jun 2013

Posted by Ms. Boice in Uncategorized

≈ 16 Comments

Tags

birding, birds, blogging, global birding, TBEX, Toronto, travel, writing

There’s not room for two big egos in this photo. (Instagram)

Dear Readers,

I started this blog almost two years ago because I wanted to practice writing and get good at it. I didn’t mean for it to turn into a travel/food/my falling in love with my long-distance suitor stories/sometimes rant blog. Some of you are my family and friends and even coworkers who either felt pressured to subscribe or had a real sincere desire to find out what makes me tick. Some of you also follow my other blog The Accidental Birder because, frankly, you probably got tired of my pestering you to follow my badass birding adventures around the globe. To you, I apologize for the abhorrent writing you’ve had to face and the random and inconsistent posts.

Sometimes I vomit out too many adverbs on a page. And other times, I’ve hit “publish” and then gone back three times (at least) to clean up the mess. I know that, and the first step in overcoming any problem is admitting it. The second step, I’m certain, is to go to a conference for bloggers to get some rehab, which happened to be TBEX (Travel Bloggers Exchange).

When people and speakers think you’re weird. And that’s okay.

I was over the moon on my first day at TBEX. It began wonderfully with the writing workshop, led by Pam Mandel, Andy Murdock and David Farley. We broke into small groups of about 12 people and I got a chance to read part of one of my Accidental Birder posts. The look on David Farley’s face when I explained that I’m a global birder was priceless. You know that look someone gives you when they’re not sure you said what you said? Like you were speaking in tongues? I got that look. Turns out I got a lot of those weird looks all weekend. Yes, y’all. Looking at birds around the world. It’s a thing.

Looks like I’ve got my work cut out for me.

Pam Mandel, David Farley and Andy Murdock help us not suck as much at writing.

Pam Mandel, David Farley and Andy Murdock help us not suck at writing.

My second small group session during the workshop was with Pam Mandel and we didn’t really workshop anyone’s writing, but rather workshopped ideas and challenges. I received sage advice on how I might tackle my latest adventure in Ecuador where it didn’t exactly turn out so awesome. You, my dear reader, don’t know that yet—the part about Ecuador not being so awesome—because I haven’t had the nerve to write it. I’ve only shown you super fun stuff like the custom-made red boots I got in Quito.

If there was one thing that impressed me most, it was the genuine advice and feedback I received at this workshop and in their follow ups with me. These are the connections that are the most meaningful at a conference like TBEX. I only wish this could have been an all-day workshop.

When people are surprised you don’t make money at this. That’s okay too.

The other workshop I attended was the Instagram walking tour with Katja Presnal. As we were walking around Toronto in the crazy heat and humidity I was having a nice chat with a woman about my Accidental Birder blog when she asked, “So how do you make money at that?”

“Uh, I don’t.”

I thought everyone did this for the love of writing and have regular careers and never have a tidy home.

It wouldn’t be the last time someone would ask me about the business side of my blog. And guess what—there is no business side of either of my blogs.

So, it turns out there were Monetizing sessions at TBEX. I thought that was another conference. (No, not really, but it kinda felt like it.)

Meanwhile, back on the walking tour….

Apparently, reading small print like, “It’s a walking tour so wear comfortable shoes,” got lost on me. Also, rules like “keep up with the group” seem to be important. I got turned around and separated from the group so I walked back to the hotel and noticed that the CN Tower had been stalking me.

CN Tower is totally stalking me. [Enter creepy music.]

This is how old people party. Or not.

So readers, I hate to report that I didn’t go to any of the parties. Instead I spent the evenings with Steve, the husband, because we’re that weird couple where each lives in a different country. Toronto was a rendezvous point and to be honest, I’m just kind of too old for those parties. But I heard they were really fun.

Did someone lose her shoe? That must have been some party the night before.

Parties so fun that someone lost her shoe. That must have been some party! (Instagram)

I should have been tormenting you differently

Back at the Toronto convention center ranch of 1300 bloggers I stuck to the content track at TBEX, which gave me really good tips and direction to improve my writing, photography, content development, and to be quite honest, make it easier for you to follow along. I even learned, ala Mike Sowden, how to torment you and make you want to read my blogs to the end. I have no idea if you finish reading any of what I’m posting. I’m lucky if I get three comments and I’m assuming those people have read to the end. I think I’ve been tormenting you all along, but not in the way Mike suggests. Sorry about all the bad writing tormenting. (<–See? even this sentence is bad. Ugh.)

See anything good?

I also met some lovely people, one of whom happened to be another birder, Laura Kammermeier of Nature Travel Network. On the first day we had lunch with my husband (the real birder) where we shared stories and adventures. Laura’s insights on the difficulty in networking were spot on when she said:

I don’t know how to break into this group here at TBEX. In the birder world you just go up and say, ‘See anything good?’ and that starts the conversation. Here? I don’t know.

Yeah, I couldn’t figure it out either. Gosh, 1300 attendees is a lot of people and kind of difficult to connect. But there was a really cool sculpture of birds right outside the convention center. Thanks Toronto, that was a swell welcome for us two birders. Made us feel kind of special. And smart because everyone else was calling them just woodpeckers. But we birders were geeking out about it and, of course. knew what species they really were.

In case you didn’t know, that there is a Yellow-bellied Sapsucker (the other one was the Pileated Woodpecker). You totally want to party with me, right?

By the way, there was a GOB of construction going on in Toronto. (Instagram)

A cheap date. (Not in the sense that she’s a trashy girl.)

Did TBEX meet all my expectations? Kind of. But it was sort of a cheap date and I got what I paid for. I bought my conference ticket ûber early and paid under $100 for it. I maybe passed out seven of my cards with my blog info because they were people I genuinely wanted to connect with. I didn’t speed date. I don’t even know what the Marketplace thing was. And as I mentioned above, I didn’t do the parties. Or the after parties. I just stayed the course with the content track and felt like I took advantage of 1/5 of the conference, which was okay. TBEX was a cheap date and that’s fine. If I want more out of a conference I will need to invest a little more for that. I don’t need all the other stuff the sponsors were paying for—the parties and the monetization breakouts. Not saying they’re bad, but it just wasn’t my focus.

I took pages and pages of notes, so I know I learned a great deal. Most importantly, I learned to not just slap up crap on my blog just to stay consistent. It’s more important to really work through a piece, edit, sleep on it, and edit some more. So that means I may not post something weekly. It just might even be once a month. I don’t know yet. I liked working in a rhythm, but I was only making incremental improvements in writing, not monumental steps.

You see, it’s about you, not me. That’s a tough thing to learn and rather counterintuitive to personal blogging if you think about it. Blogging started about me, but if this is going to be about engagement I have to respect your time as well and give you something for your time, like something interesting to read. Or something you learn. Or at least one embarrassing photo of me.

And then I’m sure you’ll always finish my posts to the end.

Warmest regards,

Lisa

The baby aspirin years

~ Ms. Boice falls in love, travels and eats her way through life in the post-40 years.

Tag Archives: Toronto

I wouldn’t mind re-doing 2013 and it’s not just because of the typo